Anti-vaccination network slammed in NSW Parliament

As regular anti-vaccination watchers would be aware, due to the stunning work of Meryl Dorey and her anti-vaccination organisation, the Australian Vaccination Network, questionable health service providers of all stripes will be held to greater account by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission. This includes homeopaths, naturopaths, and all other practitioners who like to make grand claims of efficacy, devoid of substance. The Health Legislation Amendment Bill 2013 (page 18554), introduced by Health Minister Jillian Skinner, is steamrolling ahead, and seems likely to pass with support from all sides of politics.

On March 26 2013 Opposition Health Spokesperson Dr Andrew McDonald responded to Minister Skinner’s introduction of the Bill (page 19404). His speech is rightly scathing of the misleading information of the AVN, and the AVN’s misleading name (and he was not alone – other MPs were equally scathing). Dr McDonald seeks amendments to some sections of the Bill; however, importantly, seeks no amendments to Schedule 2 – the section pertinent to the AVN and other misleading health service providers – commending the Minister for the Bill, whilst at the same time commending Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts for his work in ordering the AVN to change their name. Interestingly, Dr McDonald also notes that he had cause to call police after threatening emails were sent to him by AVN supporters.

Here is the important excerpt from Dr McDonald’s speech [bold mine]:

Schedule 2 to the bill amends the Health Care Complaints Act 1993. The Health Care Complaints Commission is independent and its role is to assess, investigate and prosecute complaints against health practitioners and health service providers. The drivers for these changes are the 2012 Supreme Court decision in Australian Vaccination Network Inc. v Health Care Complaints Commission and the result of the 2010 joint parliamentary committee’s review of the Health Care Complaints Act 1993.

The Supreme Court decision has limited the ability of the Health Care Complaints Commission to investigate matters. Presently, the Health Care Complaints Commission can investigate only when a complaint is made that affects the management of an individual person. Immunisation depends on herd immunity and a highly immunised population is vital to prevent the spread of epidemics. If the herd immunity drops, the vulnerable are put at risk. That is why we have epidemics of vaccine-preventable conditions, such as whooping cough and measles. In 2009 Dana McCaffery from the North Coast of New South Wales, aged one month, died from whooping cough. Her photo is a centrepiece of the lecture on immunisation that is given to all medical students of the University of Western Sydney to stress the need for high immunisation rates as being vital protection for young children such as Dana.

However, the New South Wales immunisation rate remains in the low ninetieth percentile, due partly to the ability of such groups as Australian Vaccination Network to muddy the waters about immunisation. Parents seeking impartial advice on immunisation and Google “vaccination in Australia” will find the Australian Vaccination Network website comes up as number two on that search. The Australian Vaccination Network is a fervent and highly virulent anti-immunisation group. Its name and website are designed to mislead unsuspecting community members to believe that a balanced view about immunisation is being presented. When provoked, Australian Vaccination Network’s fellow travellers can and do behave reprehensibly. The police have been called to my office on one occasion following threatening emails after I raised concerns about the practices of the Australian Vaccination Network.

The bill amends section 7 of the Health Care Complaints Act to make clear that a complaint can be made against a health service if the health service affects, or is likely to affect, the clinical management or care of an individual client. This will mean that if a person or group acts as health service providers in a manner that is likely to affect an individual, even if one has not been identified, the Health Care Complaints Commission will have the necessary jurisdiction to investigate a complaint against that health service provider. The Australian Vaccination Network website is a mixture of scientific fact, half-truths and unproven allegations that only an expert eye can pick.

As I said earlier, this is a group that vehemently opposes immunisation. Groups or persons such as the Australian Vaccination Network are entitled to their views because we can all agree to disagree. However, the Australian Vaccination Network is a health service provider and should accurately reflect what those views are—in this case anti-immunisation. Like all health service providers it also should accept the consequences of its provision of health services on individual patients. This amendment to the Health Care Complaints Act 1993 should achieve this, and I commend the Minister for bringing this part of the legislation to the House. I commend and support the Minister for Fair Trading for his efforts to ensure that the Australian Vaccination Network adopt a name that accurately reflects its views.

0 Responses to Anti-vaccination network slammed in NSW Parliament

Four years ago, I could not possibly have seen this outcome, let alone happening so quickly. I’d say “good job SAVN” but it seems the person who deserves the most praise for this outcome is Meryl Dorey.

Allow me to play devil’s advocate for a second and submit to you this: Meryl Dorey has been on our side all this time. All of her work was the selfless work of a woman determined to bring down the alt-med protections in Australia. She did this at a great cost to herself, but she managed to get it done. Because of her tireless work to put alt-med/anti-vaccine groups and individuals in the worst light possible — and all from within — you may be coming close to have very strong regulation of all the woo in your land.

The eminent Ms Dorey may have succeeded changing legislation in NSW, but no other state in Australia has any legislation protecting the public from unregistered healthcare practitioners. So there’s a long way to go yet.

Even in NSW, the HCCC may soon have more powers to investigate problem practitioners, but will they? And once they ‘investigate’, then what? And what did it take for the HCCC to act against the AVN in the first place? It looks like it took concerted pressure from a large number of motivated people, including medical professionals (StopAVN).

I’ve submitted numerous complaints about the cult doctors (as in registered medical doctors) publicly promoting him and ‘Esoteric Women’s Health’ practices of Esoteric Breast, Uterus and Ovary Massage, as well as referring patients to unqualified Esoteric bullshit healers and recruiting to what is essentially a multimillion dollar sexually abusive death cult – that calls itself ‘Medicine’.

The HCCC has done nothing. The UM cult is causing major health problems in followers across the globe, family breakdown, financial ruin and nobody gives a rats. I have no faith that the new legislation will change anything at all.

If you go to my blog and take a look at the news reports tab, you’ll see it’s same guy. In 1999 he went bankrupt, followed quickly by a spiritual epiphany while sitting on the toilet, followed by the formation of pisstake ‘Esoteric healing’ conglomerate UM. He was claiming to be the reincarnation of Leonardo Da Vinci until cornered by journalists last year. Bizarre indeed. His cult also held a cyber bullying conference at Southern Cross uni last year (Real Media Real Change) – part of their efforts to silence me and another blogger. Guess who was in attendance? Meryl Dorney. No doubt tooling up for defamation claims. Small world, yah?

Real Media Real Change doesn’t disclose their backing but the connections are super easy to make considering they http://www.realmediarealchange.org/ recently plugged Esoteric Women’s Health presentations in several cities.

They used the banner of International Women’s Day – but their events were deregistered by IWD when they found out RMRC is a front for a sexually abusive cult. I also blogged about that.

Meryl Dorey also has another potential source of advice on defamation claims, that other AVN member, Prof. Brian Martin, who provides advice (even though he’s not a lawyer) on how to defend from defamation action. Though I won’t be seeking his advice over his student’s defamation of me here http://www.vaccinationdecisions.net/lobby-groups.php

“When provoked, Australian Vaccination Network’s fellow travellers can and do behave reprehensibly. The police have been called to my office on one occasion following threatening emails after I raised concerns about the practices of the Australian Vaccination Network.”